At Allgaier Consulting, we love finding new helpful tricks to share with our clients. We recently dove into Apple’s new feature called Universal Control to see what it’s all about. At first, it seemed to me like it was just an extra screen in the form of an iPad, but that is not the case. Universal Control is much cooler!
This feature allows you to centralize all of your devices and recapture your desk and mental focus. When you use Universal Control to connect your devices, you can use one keyboard and mouse/trackpad to work seamlessly between all of your devices. This allows you to use your Mac’s keyboard and mouse/trackpad to switch between apps on your iPad… without need to physically switch between devices! This is a great productivity booster that lets you control everything without having to shift or move around from device to device.
So, you may be wondering how to enable this feature for your environment? Simply follow these steps:
Open System Settings
Click on Displays > Advanced…
Turn on at least the first two options, and possibly the third if that makes sense to you.
In order for this to work there are some requirements that you need to be aware of (hardware and software). Below is a snapshot of those requirements.
Additional requirements include the following:
Each device must be signed in with the same Apple ID using two-factor authentication. Universal Control does not support Managed Apple IDs.
Each device must be within 10 meters (30 feet) of each other and have Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Handoff turned on.
Your iPad must not be sharing its cellular connection and your Mac must not be sharing its internet connection.
We encourage anyone with the hardware to give it a try! Comment below on how you use your setup and share your experience with us! If you are interested in learning more or want help creating a setup with these features, please reach out to us! We love helping people find joy and simplicity in technology to make their lives easier.
